After much skullduggery, the size of J&K State annual plan for the financial year 2013-14 stands finalized at the Planning Commission. A day prior to the final meeting between the Vice Chairman of Planning Commission and the State Chief Minister, in which the size of the plan was hammered out, the high powered delegation of the State led by the Chief Secretary had comprehensive discussion on the proposed annual plan with the Advisers of the Planning Commission. This figure was culled out on the basis of the principle of 10 per cent hike in the annual plans allowed by the Planning Commission in normal course. However, in the final round of talks that took place on the last day, the Planning Commission sanctioned only Rs. 7300 crore. The Planning Commission contended that the State was not in a position to fund the huge plan of Rs 8050 crore in view of meager resources of its own. It had asked the officers during preliminary plan meetings with the State bureaucrats that the State should increase its own tax base, cut revenue expenditure (which included expenses of the Government, salaries and pension of employees etc), reduce ever increasing deficit between power purchase and revenue generation and take other possible measures to make the State self reliant instead of referring all proposals and schemes to the Centre for funding.
Nevertheless, the Planning Commission approved almost in full grants for centrally sponsored projects such as Rs 600 crore for the State under Prime Minister’s Re-construction Plan (PMRP), about Rs 3500 crore under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Rs 710 crore for land acquisition under Prime Minister’s Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Official sources state that total amount sanctioned by the Centre for Jammu and Kashmir today under annual plan, PMRP, PMGSY package and Centrally Sponsored Schemes stood at Rs 12,110 crore.
It has to be reminded that Centrally Sponsored Schemes have proved highly beneficial in other states especially those where these schemes have been implemented in letter and in spirit according to the accompanying guidelines provided by the centre. These schemes could be of much use in our state if only when implemented in proper way and in proper spirit. Some of the vital schemes falling in this category have not met with full success and need to be addressed without delay.
The policy of the Planning Commission of India in regard to allocation of funds to the Jammu and Kashmir State for its annual plans has been frugal. The State Government would have been happier if its projected figure of Rs. 8050 crore had been sanctioned without any cut. But now that the cut has been made and the plan amount reduced to Rs. 7300 crore, the State shall have to take some austerity measures to cover the deficit. Of course it will mean changing some of the plans for the financial year 2013-14. The Planning Commission has again emphasized on the State Government that it should explore sources of increasing internal revenue. We feel that the State should not lose sight of self-sufficiency by addressing various sources of revenue. It shall have to increase its own tax base, cut revenue expenditure, which included expenses of the Government, salaries and pension of employees etc, reduce ever increasing deficit between power purchase and revenue generation and take other possible measures to make the State self reliant instead of referring all proposals and schemes to the Centre for funding.
We would like to congratulate the Chief Minister for making a successful attempt at convincing the Planning Commission members about the developmental works that have been executed in the State or are under the process of execution. He has rightly hailed the Central Government and Planning Commission for various new developmental initiatives for J&K particularly the extension of industrial package beyond June 2012, in-principle agreement of 90:10 State Share for all Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), and allotment of coal block, which will enable the State to meet its power requirement in winter months. The Chief Minister rightly took up the issue of rapid and safe transport in two capital cities where traffic congestion has become the order of the day. Something has to be done to do away with traffic chaos in densely populated areas of the two capital cities of the State. The Government has already submitted a separate project for this purpose. Ours is a hilly State and also a border state with boundaries touching with two hostile countries on the west and the east. Therefore we have to ensure that our progress is not arrested by hostile designs of our unfriendly neighbours.
Planning and execution are two different stages of reaching the objective of developmental progress of a State. The execution part does give rise to many difficulties that might not have been envisaged earlier. It has to be borne in mind that we have passed through two decades of militancy and turmoil, which arrested our development in more than one way. The task of bringing the State back to normalcy was taken up on priority basis. This caused some hardship in speedy implementation of developmental schemes and we lagged behind in the graph of national developmental programme. But now the State is limping back to normalcy, our development will gain speed. The Government has to ensure that targets are met within the time schedule. Past experience has shown that it is important to stop wasting of resources by undertaking projects on which in-depth discussion has not been done before the launch. Power shortage is one of the vital issues facing the State. This is despite the fact that we have water resources and could develop hydropower projects. The dispute with NHPC need to be resolved amicably and attention focused on generating power to capacity so that a large chunk of our annual budget is not eaten up by power supply.
We hope that this financial year will see the completion of incomplete projects and launching of new projects in the State. We need to do hard work on all levels to ensure that the funds allocated for various developmental works are properly utilized and in time. The State should not be made to go through hassles for release of funds. Delaying the projects is a loss owing to rapid escalation of prices.
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